We love hearing from you! After sending out our recent communication on polymer cost saving tips, we received a great question from one of our end users concerning Hi-Di.
After digging into it, we discovered some great information that we thought might be helpful to others. Here is the background information and also our research findings. Enjoy!
My teenaged son has accused me of being OCD because we have to vacuum the entire house each week and remove our shoes before entering the house. The jury is still out on my mental health, but I do know the life of my carpet is being prolonged!
You may also be able to prolong the life of your pump and lower block with simple “housekeeping” techniques. Both parts can leave a huge dent in your budget if you have to replace them. Fortunately, with a little time and care, both can last for years.
We sure hope your pump does not resemble this one!
For Want of a Nail
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
Beyond a mild appreciation for the historical value of the 14th century proverb, how does the above text relate to life in the molecular biology lab? An interesting case study follows that may shed some light on the subject.
A couple of weeks ago, SeqGen was hired to perform the annual preventative maintenance on a 3130 Genetic Analyzer. The engineer completed the required service, but unfortunately discovered that the recently relocated machine had a broken right door sensor, that, at the time, was not affecting the operation of the instrument. The end user was alerted to the potential problem, the issue was notated on the report, and the engineer closed out the job.
I recently had the unpleasant experience of purchasing a used, higher mileage, older vehicle for my teen son. Everything has functioned flawlessly on the car, but it did need a routine oil change. I, of course, am a firm believer in third party service providers, so I sent my son to a local mechanic’s shop. Unfortunately, my bargain $19.95 oil change turned into a $250 routine maintenance visit! Apparently the previous owner had not done the proper preventative maintenance and everything needed flushing or replacing, including all the air filters.
Ever had one of those days? After sitting at your desk for 12 hours, you still cannot seem to clear out the day’s “To Do” list. This entire week was one of “those” days for me. I’ve even received three friend requests, allegedly from me, to friend myself! I just want to say that we at SeqGen consider ALL of you our friends, but please do NOT accept any “friend” requests from SeqGen or me personally. Somehow one of your emails has been hacked and those cyber crooks are using SeqGen’s and my name maliciously. Rest assured that the hosting service has received the appropriate “hate” mail from us. Please check the email sender very carefully and never click on any suspicious links – even from SeqGen!
One of the most common complaints we hear from our customers is they are seeing less than optimal results in their sequencing data. After making sure your machine is working properly, we often come to the conclusion that the issue is related to the capillary array.
Most of the time, the problem is simply a dirty capillary array. Over time, dried and degraded polymer will accumulate on the inner walls of your capillary array. This can adversely affect the resolution during sample runs and cause your results to suffer. Some common symptoms of a failing array are:
On a hot steamy June day in The-Middle-of-Nowhereville, Wisconsin, a SeqGen field service engineer was on his way to a routine preventative maintenance service call. As he hums along with the radio, suddenly he hears the sickening flop, flop, flop, of a flat tire. No problem! This is a field service engineer right? Well it would not have been a problem had there been a spare tire in the trunk of the rental car! Ok – call for roadside assistance. Oh no – no cell signal! To make a long story short – after a 30-minute hike along a deserted, hot, asphalt highway, he finally gets a cell signal, calls for roadside assistance and is soon back on his way.
How can something so small, cause so many problems? The other day Charles, one of our field service engineers, shared some observations that he frequently makes in many of the labs he visits. Here is an excerpt from his email that you may find interesting:
“Recently, I realized our customers were having pump system issues on the 3130/3730 because of over-twisting the capillary array knob. The knob can even break the capillary if it is adjusted improperly.”
Here are Charles’ suggestions for pump system maintenance:
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and the pleasant memories are still looming with each bite of leftover turkey. For those of us that spent our holiday with our teenagers, we are well aware of that vacant blank stare when attempting any kind of communication at times! I think I will start texting my kid when it is time to clean up the dishes after the meal. Seems to be the only acceptable form of communication these days…
